ITV4 Cycling Show

[mjr]

Well I got interviewed by Rebecca Charlton today for a future segment.

Clearly the ideal person to do a feature on starter groups that aren't part of "the Lycra crowd" as you put it

[Brucey]

I've just seen Chris Boardman's excellent piece comparing cycling in Utrecht and London.

An interesting interview (Ned talking to Bonking Boris) follows...

BUT... this is part of the TdeF coverage on ITV4 !!!!!!

That 'the cycle show' does not do more for cycling advocacy, and it is left to the TdeF editorial team to include items like this tells you everything that you need to know about what is wrong with 'the cycle show'.

I think they should turn over 25% of their show to more direct cycle advocacy, instead of seemingly just pushing cycling as an extreme sport or niche leisure activity.

cheers

[Bicycler]

Agreed

I set up a thread for discussing the Boardman Utrecht feature: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=98455

[Mick F]

We were in a certain pub on Sunday, and the telly was on in the corner. No sound, and TBH, I was in conversation with SWMBO.

There was a cycling program on, and the article seemed to be about a bike with a Rohloff(?) and the end of the prog was about some chap struggling up a hill over some moor or other. His gearing was too high and he had to honk and honk and honk.
Terrible footage of a cyclist IMHO, but the scenery was nice.

As I said, the sound was off and I only saw some of the latter bits of the prog.
We don't own a telly and I have no idea what channel the pub's telly was on or what the prog was.
Can't say I'll be buying a telly just to watch some chap struggling up a hill in the wrong gear.

[mjr]

There was a cycling program on, and the article seemed to be about a bike with a Rohloff(?) and the end of the prog was about some chap struggling up a hill over some moor or other. His gearing was too high and he had to honk and honk and honk.

I don't know the programme (what time was it?), but surely that can't have been a Rohloff? If you set them up on a 27" wheel with a stonking 125" top gear then bottom gear is still 24".

[Dave W]

Bwlch-y-Groes climb of the week apparently. The guy was talking to camera at the same time!

Chap called Simon Warren - I think he knows the correct way to ride a bike uphill by now

[robc02]

the article seemed to be about a bike with a Rohloff(?)

It was an electric motor hub, but it did look like a hub gear at a glance. The battery was inside the frame. It was meant to look un-electric-bike-like....... I think it succeeded in that.

[Mick F]

Ok.
As I said, the sound was off and I only saw the end bits.

No doubt he knows how to climb a hill, but he wasn't showing it. In fact it was a bad example of how to climb a hill despite having electric assist.

[mjr]

No doubt he knows how to climb a hill, but he wasn't showing it. In fact it was a bad example of how to climb a hill despite having electric assist.

Is he of the Contador stand-and-wobble school while you're of the sit-and-spin-low-gear school, or do you favour another way?

I think I favour the two foot gear on stuff that steep

[robc02]

Ok.
As I said, the sound was off and I only saw the end bits.

No doubt he knows how to climb a hill, but he wasn't showing it. In fact it was a bad example of how to climb a hill despite having electric assist.

I don't think the hillclimb was with electric assist - they were two separate articles.

[RickH]

No electric assist on the hill climb - it is a weekly feature by Simon Warren, the guy you see riding, and author of "100 Greatest Cycling Climbs: A Road Cyclist's Guide to Britain's Hills" (Amazon link), "Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs: A Road Cyclist's Guide to Britain's Hills" (link) & "100 Greatest Cycling Climbs of the Tour de France: A Cyclist's Guide to Riding the Mountains of the Tour" (link). So a guy who likes riding up hills but on camera possibly riding slower than he might otherwise do as he has to have enough breath to do his commentary while pedalling on gradients stated to be around 20%.

Personally, I'm quite enjoying the show.

Rick.

[[XAP]Bob]

Bwlch-y-Groes climb of the week apparently. The guy was talking to camera at the same time!

Chap called Simon Warren - I think he knows the correct way to ride a bike uphill by now

I'll have to watch it then. Show people what that climb is like. They won't show it all though....

[Mick F]

No doubt he knows how to climb a hill, but he wasn't showing it. In fact it was a bad example of how to climb a hill despite having electric assist.

Is he of the Contador stand-and-wobble school while you're of the sit-and-spin-low-gear school, or do you favour another way?

I think I favour the two foot gear on stuff that steep

I was meaning that he was struggling. Good job he is fit.

To climb a hill successfully (as a mere mortal) you need to relax. Gearing is a matter of preference, but relaxing is the way to go. He was struggling, holding tight to the 'bars, standing on the pedals, honking and swaying, and looked as if he was in pain.

If it's a cycling programme aimed at cyclists, he should be setting an example of how it should be done. Maybe if the article was about racing up that hill as fast as possible, he was sort of demonstrating it ok. If he was showing the hill and how to ride up it, he was not. He was being a bad example to the masses. He would be putting people off, not encouraging them.

As I said, the sound was off and I was chatting, so I may be talking a load of tommy rot.

However, from what I saw, it was a terrible example.

[Brucey]

it wouldn't have been obvious from looking at the TV (which tends to squash the landscape flat) but matey was actually climbing a ~20% gradient. IME 'looking relaxed' is not on the agenda and anyway wouldn't make for good TV either....

cheers

[Mick F]

No, it wouldn't make good telly!

However, I doubt it was 20%, more like 15%.